Herein, related art may be discussed to put the invention in context. Related art labeled “prior art” is admitted prior art; related art not labeled “prior art” is not admitted prior art. Also, herein, “multiprocessor” refers to a computer with two or more central processing units.
Computer processors, the “brains” of computers, can consume a lot of power and, in the process, dissipate a lot of heat. The power consumption by the processor plus the provision for removing the potentially damaging heat can be expensive. Accordingly, modern processors often provide for low-power states that reduce power consumption and heat generation at the expense of lower, even zero, performance. In multiprocessor systems, workloads can be distributed so that some processors enter sleep states, while others continue processing. In some multiprocessor systems, some power continues to be supplied to a “suspended” processor so that, even when off, it provides proper impedance matching to a multiprocessor bus, over which the processors communicate with each other and other system devices. As explained in the detailed description below with reference to the following figures, the present invention provides for further reductions in power consumption and heat generation in some circumstances.